Table Of ContentA Place in History
Photo of John Kendrew on the grounds of Peterhouse, Oxford University, in
the early 1960s. Reproduced from an item in the Kendrew Archives, Weston
Library, Oxford
A Place in History
The Biography of John C. Kendrew
PAUL M. WASSARMAN
1
3
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019036511
ISBN 978– 0– 19– 973204– 3
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Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
For Eveline
A man’s soul and reason are his own and he must
go whither they beckon.
Arthur Conan Doyle
It is the fate of every human being to be a unique
individual, to find his own path, to live his own life,
to die his own death.
Oliver Sacks
Contents
Figures and Tables ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xix
John Kendrew’s Timeline xxiii
John Kendrew’s Service xxv
John Kendrew’s Awards and Honors xxvii
Nobel Laureates Cited xxix
British Peers and Knights Cited xxxiii
List of Abbreviations xxxvii
1. Introduction to John Kendrew 1
2. Life, Traits, and Predilections 17
3. Family, Parents, and Separation 31
4. Formal Education (1924–1 939) 51
5. World War 2 Service (1939–1 946) 68
6. Cavendish, Peterhouse, and Myoglobin (1946–1 962) 91
7. Marriage and Divorce (1948–1 956) 130
8. Structure of Myoglobin (1957–1 962) 137
9. Journal of Molecular Biology (1957– 1987) 151
10. Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1962) 164
11. The Old Guildhall, Linton (1964–1 997) 176
12. Laboratory of Molecular Biology (1962–1 974) 181
13. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (1962–1 982) 197
14. St. John’s, Retirement, and Death (1982–1 997) 223
Appendix A.1. Description of John Kendrew’s Archives 247
Appendix A.2. John Kendrew’s Obituaries (1997) 261
Appendix A.3. Preface to John Kendrew’s PhD Dissertation (1949) 273
viii Contents
A.4. John Kendrew’s Scientific Publications (1940–1 994) 275
A.5. John Kendrew’s Science Article (1963) 279
A.6. Gunnar Hägg’s Nobel Presentation Speech (1962) 289
A.7. John Kendrew’s EMBL Signature of Agreement Speech (1973) 293
Notes 297
Sources 309
Index 315
Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1 Photo of a portrait of John Kendrew drawn by William Lawrence
Bragg. Reproduced from an item in the Kendrew Archives, Weston
Library, Oxford 2
1.2 Photo of the six-m ember Governing Board of the MRC LMB in 1967.
Seated left-t o- right are Hugh Huxley, Max Perutz, Fred Sanger, and Sydney
Brenner. Standing left-t o- right are John Kendrew and Francis Crick. Five of
the six members were at the time or subsequently became Nobel laureates.
Reproduced with permission of the MRC LMB, Cambridge 7
1.3 Photo of the MRC LMB buildings in 1962 (top), 1968 (middle), and 2013
(bottom). From 1962 to 2013 the LMB was located at the Addenbrooke’s
Hospital Site on Hills Road, Cambridge. In 2013 the LMB moved to a new
building on Francis Crick Avenue at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.
Reproduced with permission of the MRC LMB, Cambridge 8
3.1 The Kendrew family tree including John Kendrew’s great grandparents,
uncles, and aunts, his grandparents, uncles and aunts, his father and mother,
and his wife 33
3.2 Photo of Wilfrid George Kendrew, father of John Kendrew. Reproduced
from a photo in Joan M. Kenworthy’s “Meteorologist’s profile—W ilfrid
George Kendrew (1884–1 962)” that appeared in Weather, vol. 62, no. 2,
February 2007 37
3.3 Photo of Evelyn Sandberg-V avalà, mother of John Kendrew. Reproduced
from a photo in Wikipedia from the Fondazione Federico Zeri, University
of Bologna, Italy 43
4.1 Photo of John Kendrew (ca. 8 yoa) as a member of the cast of Macbeth at
the Dragon School. Contributed by Gay Sturt, Archivist at the Dragon
School, Oxford 55
4.2 Photo of John Kendrew (ca. 51 yoa) and students at the opening of the new
Science Block, the Cartwright Building, at the Dragon School in 1968.
Contributed by Gay Sturt, Archivist at the Dragon School, Oxford 57
4.3 Photo of members of Watson House at Clifton College in 1933.
John Kendrew (ca. 16 yoa) is standing at the right-e nd of the third row.
